Bruce R. McConkie States Mormons Are Not To Have A Personal Relationship With Jesus Christ
It is no secret that many false and vain and foolish things are being taught in the sectarian world even among us about our need to gain a special relationship with the Lord Jesus. . . . In an attempt to be truer than true [Christians] devote themselves to gaining a special, personal relationship with Christ that is both improper and perilous. . . . Another peril is that those involved begin to pray directly to Christ because of some special friendship they feel has been developed. In this connection a current and unwise book, which advocates gaining a special relationship with Jesus, contains this sentence—“Because the Savior is our mediator, our prayers go through Christ to the Father, and the Father answers our prayers through His Son.” This is plain sectarian nonsense. Our prayers are addressed to the Father and the Father only. They do not go through Christ. (Bruce R. McConkie, Church News, Page 5, March 20th, 1982)
Test All Things 
Thank you for this, I have felt this attitude coming back into church within talks and statements by members in church meetings. Not the Leaders. I specifically searched for this article which was authorized by the Church Presidency when it was published. I am trying to find the whole article.
Thomas declared Jesus as “my Lord and my God”. Jesus did not correct his statement. Isaiah states,”the Lord our God is one”. It is NOT improper to pray to Christ. It is in Him our salvation lies. The power of our salvation lies in His blood and in the cross. The cross is only approached in Mormonisn when it should be embraced,never mind the talk of its ugliness and suffering it brought. It is our sin that makes it ugly, it is a beautiful thing to the saved Christian. There is no preaching of the cross in an LDS church, why? Because the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Very well articulated and a joy to read. Thank you for sharing with us Doug. :)